Prairie drought reaches tipping point

Prairie drought reaches tipping point

MarketsFarm — The Prairie provinces have been under the influence of a large ridge of high pressure for a number of weeks, which has produced prolonged dryness with little precipitation. That high pressure system has pushed low-pressure, precipitation-carrying systems to the south, where the U.S. Midwest has already received significant rain. Environment Canada estimated the […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain prices strong as dry weather persists

MarketsFarm — Producers are anxious to stock up on feed grains as weather across the Prairies has remained dry. “We’ve been seeing buyers being quite aggressive [when] bidding on all feed grains,” explained Nelson Neumann of Agfinity in Lethbridge. “Nobody wants to be caught without anything over the summer.” With little precipitation in the forecast, […] Read more



A sunflower crop in Manitoba. (MysticEnergy/Getty Images)

Sunflowers doing well despite drought

MarketsFarm — Though many producers bemoan current drier-than-normal springtime conditions across the Prairies, sunflower crops are primed for a good year. “As long as there’s enough moisture to germinate, they immediately grow a really deep root system,” said Ben Friesen of Scoular Canada. While Statistics Canada estimated the 2019 sunflower acreage to remain pretty much […] Read more


CBOT July 2019 soybeans (candlestick chart) compared to July 2019 soybeans (orange line chart). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Weather, trade wars keep futures volatile

MarketsFarm — Extended durations of wet spring weather continue to buoy prices on the Chicago Board of Trade — and price volatility will remain high based on long-term weather forecasts. “Whenever you’re in a weather problem phase, volatility tends to increase,” explained Terry Reilly, a grains analyst with Futures International. Currently, soybeans are trading around […] Read more







Chickpeas. (CalypsoArt/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea prices remain low, future bright

MarketsFarm — Lower prices are expected to lead to a drop in Canadian chickpea acres in 2019, but the future is bright for the crop as new consumer markets gain popularity. Seeded acres for chickpeas almost quadrupled between 2017 and 2018, rising from 160,000 to 442,900, respectively. Since inventory from the 2018 growing season is […] Read more